UofL d-back Sample 'speechless' after debut

It's not easy getting more than a sentence or two out of University of Louisville safety James Sample.

But there was a much lengthier conversation going on inside the junior-college transfer's head when he stepped on the field Monday night for his debut with the Cardinals.

"I was nervous," he admitted after U of L's 31-13 win over Miami. "I didn't want to let a lot of people down back home."

Whatever nerves came before kickoff didn't show during the game. The 6-foot-2, 191-pound Sample racked up a team-high eight tackles, and his third-quarter interception led to a field goal that put the Cards up by two scores.

On Tuesday he was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference's co-Defensive Back of the Week by media members in each of the 14 ACC markets.

Not bad for a debut.

"It felt great," Sample said. "It was the best feeling. Man, I'm speechless right now. I was fired up to get out there."

About a month ago Sample's U of L debut was in some doubt.

A four-star high school prospect, he was part of the University of Washington's top-25 signing class in 2011. Injuries slowed his progress there, and he left after two seasons. He spent the 2013 football season at American River College in his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.

When he signed with Louisville in April, Sample was considered a three-star junior-college recruit, a key signee at a critical position for the Cardinals.

But the Friday before camp started, he still hadn't registered for classes or arrived on campus, and it wasn't clear if his paperwork would be processed in time. When his status was cleared, he got to U of L just two days before preseason practices began. He didn't know his teammates all that well, and he'd hardly move into his room.

"I had to step up my game a little bit since I wasn't out here for the summer conditioning and stuff," Sample said during the first week of practices. "I was really in my playbook back at home. That helped me."

He said that working out and studying on his own helped him again Monday night, when he seemingly was everywhere. A review of the game film shows him screaming toward the backfield on several running plays, either closing off the outside or putting the hit on Miami running back Duke Johnson.

Even after one of Johnson's better runs, a 5-yard scamper for a first down in the second quarter, Sample thumped him out of bounds.

"He did a great job the minute he arrived here to really get to know the defense," coach Bobby Petrino said. "He's really mature. He understood that this was his chance to get back involved in (major college) football. He did a great job with it."

That's all Sample said he wanted to do. Play his role and execute. And that's all he did, despite all the nerves in the world rattling around inside his body.

He smiled as he described his interception, but the nervousness of the entire situation even came out in the details.

"I saw the tight end releasing free and broke back the other way and ended up getting my hands on the ball," he said.

" 'Don't drop it.' That was what was on my mind."

Seems like he handled things just fine.

Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter @jeffgreer_cj.